PETITIONER:
BADRI PRASAD
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ANR.
DATE OF JUDGMENT:
11/10/1968
BENCH:
SIKRI, S.M.
BACHAWAT, R.S.
CITATION:
1970 AIR 706 1969 SCR (2) 380
ACT
Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals Alienated Lands) Act, (M.P. 1 of 1951) Forests and trees in Jagir--If vest in State.
Contract to cut timber--If sate of ascertained goods--Sale of Goods Act (3 of 1930), s. 19--Offer and acceptance--Reservation in acceptance-If concluded contract.
HEADNOTE
The appellant entered into a contract in respect of certain forests in a Jagir in Madhya Pradesh. Under el. 1 of the contract, he was entitled to cut teak trees of more than 12 inches girth. Under cl. 5, the stumps of trees after cutting, had to be 3 inches high. After the passing of the Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals. Alienated Lands) Act, 1950 a notification was issued vesting the estate in the State. and the appellant was prohibited from cutting timber in exercise of his rights under the contract. After some negotiations, a letter was written on February 1, 1955, to the appellant, on behalf of the State, that the appellant’s claim to cut trees under the contract would be considered only if he gave up his claim to a sum of Rs. 17,000 which he had already paid under the contract and was willing to pay a further sum of Rs. 17,000. The appellant, by his letter dated February 5, 1955 expressed his willingness to pay the additional sum but reserved his right to claim a refund of the first sum. The State Government rejected the appellant’s right to cut trees. He then filed a Suit claiming specific performance of the contract on the grounds: (1) The forest and trees did not vest in the State under the Act; (2) Even if they vested, the standing timber, having been sold to the appellant, did .not vest in the State; and (3) In any event a new contract was completed on February 5, 1955, and the appellant was entitled to its specific performance.
In appeal to this Court,
HELD: (1) The forest and trees vested in the State under the Act.360 F--G]
Mahadeo v. State of Bombay, [1959] Supp. 2 S.C.R. 339; State of M.P.v. Yakinuddin, [1963] 3 S.C.R. 13 and Mulamchand v. State of M.P., C.A No 393 of 1965 dated February 20, 1968, followed.
(2) Under the contract the appellant had not become the owner of the trees as goods. The property in the timber could pass to the appellant only when the trees are felled, but before they were felled, the trees had vested in the State. [391 B]
Under el. 5 of the contract there was no sale of the whole of the trees, and, under cl. 1 it had to be ascertained which trees fell within the description of trees which the appellant was entitled to cut. Till that was done they were not ’ascertained goods’ within s. 19 of the Sale of Goods Act 1930. [391 A--B]
(3) Even if the letter of ist February could be treated as an offer, there was no unconditional acceptance of the offer, because, there was 381 a reservation by the appellant of his right to claim refund in his letter dated 5th February and hence there was no concluded contract. [391 C--D]
JUDGMENT
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 18 of 1966. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree, dated October 9, 1962 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No- 94 of 1959.
G.L. Sanghi and A.G. Ratnaparkhi, for the appellant.
I. N. Shroff, for respondent No. 1.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Sikri, J. This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment and decree of the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowing tile appeal of the State of Madhya Pradesh and dismissing the suit brought by the appellant, Badri Prasad--hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff. ,
The relevant facts for determining the points raised before us are these. On December 27, 1950,- a contract was entered into between Kumar Bharat Shah, minor, through iris guardian, and the plaintiff, in respect of forests in Mouza Sunderpani Jagir. The terms were reduced to writing and an agreement was signed on January 21, 1951. It is necessary to reproduce the agreement in extenso as it would be necessary to interpret it carefully.
"Deed of agreement executed by Shri Kumar
Bharat Shah minor, guardian Shrimati Rani
Umakuar Sahiba, Jagirdar of Mouza Sunderpani.
Conditions of contract, area, forest Mouza
Sunderpani
1. Out of the area of 1704.46 acres of
Mouza Sunderpani Jagir contract of all the
teak trees of more than 12 inches girth
standing in the 1,000 acres of the forest of
big trees and excluding those teak trees which
have girth upto 12 inches is given to
contractor Badri Prasad Moolchand firm of
Timarni for a sum of Rs. 17,006 (seventeen
thousand rupees), on payment of the amount in
a lump-sum.
2. In respect of the teak trees
mentioned in paragraph No. 1 contractor Shri
Badri Prasad deposited with me the total mount
of Rs. 17,000 (seventeen thousand rupees), as
under :-
Rs. 6,000 (Six thousand rupees) on 27-
12-1950. Rs. 11,000 (Eleven thousand rupees)
on 21-1-1951. Receipts have been passed for
depositing the above amount. 382
3. The transfer of the forest shall not be
done without consent of the owner. The
contractor shall have to pay Rs. 100 (One
hundred rupees), for transfer.
4. For the proper execution of work of the
forest the felling of the forest shall have to
be done from one side. Excluding the teak
trees upto the girth of 12 inches the cutting
of those teak trees which are above that girth
shall have to be serially done.
5. After felling, the stumps of teak trees
should be 3 inches high from the ground and
slanting so as to. drain the water off. It
shall be necessary to prepare the stumps
within a week. Till the stumps are passed the
wood cannot be removed. Only the paring can
be done. The coupe guard shall make a hammer
mark of passing on the stump and end of the
pared wood.
6. The contractor shall have to get the
transit of goods done by the coupe guard.
The contractor shall have to do. the transit
of goods through the license book and submit
the monthly accounts. Without licence no
goods shall be transported out of the forest.
7. The contractor shall have to take care of
the teak trees of 12 inches girth standing in
the forest. If damage is caused proper
penalty shall be charged.
8. The contractor can appoint an agent with
permission.
9. The contractor shall have to deposit Rs.
100 (One hundred rupees)for properly
preparing the stumps of the teak trees of the
forest before starting the work. This amount
shall be returned on completion of the work if
the stumps are properly prepared; otherwise
the expenses, which may be incurred shall
be deducted.
10. The contractor shall be responsible for
any damage caused to the forest by the
contractor or his agent and he shall have to
pay the penalty.
11. The period of the contract shall be 3
years, i.e., from 27-12-1950 to 27-12-1953.
Hence the agreement in execution and the same
is The contractor and the owner of the
forest
On January 22, 1951, the Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950 (Madhya Pradesh Act 1 of 1951 )---hereinafter referred to as the Act--received the assent of the President and was published in the Gazette on 383 January 26, 1951. The plaintiff started working under the. contract in March 1951. On March 31, 1951, a notification was issued vesting the estates in the State and the State Government prohibited the plaintiff from cutting timber in exercise of the rights under the contract. Apparently negotiations took place between the State Government and the plaintiff, and on February 1, 1955, ’ the Divisional Forest Officer wrote to the plaintiff as follows:
Subject :---Contract of big trees of
Sunderpani village of Makrai State.
Reference :--Memo No. 5424-4339-11, dated
21st October, 1954 of the Forest Department of
Madhya Pradesh Government.
Kindly inform whether you are ready to
any further Rs. 17,000 (seventeen thousand
rupees), for the contract of big trees of
Sunderpani village of Makrai Circle which
(contract) is under dispute at present. This
contract can be given to you on this
compromise only. If you do not wish to pay
this amount you may, in future, take any
action you deem fit.
2. You may express your desire within
seven days of the receipt of this letter. If
you fail to do. this it will be presumed that
you are not inclined to make a mutual
compromise.
3. On receipt of your reply the State
Government will be informed." It is this letter which the plaintiff contends was an offer and which he accepted by the following letter, dated February 5, 1955:
"Subject: Contract of sale of teak-
trees in Sunderpani Forest in Makrai Range.
Reference :---Your letter No. 180,
dated 1st Feb. 1955 .
Dear Sir,
I am ready to pay Rs. 17,000 provided
my claim to have the refund of Rs. 17,000
already paid, from Shri Bharat Shah, the owner
of the village or any other relief
consequential to the judgment of that case
remains unaffected. I reserve my right to
claim the said or like amount. Subject to
these conditions I shall pay Rs.17,000 as
required in your above referred letter." By memorandum, dated October 24, 1956, the Government wrote to the plaintiff as follows: 384
"Reference :--.Your application, dated 12th September, 1956, addressed to the Minister for Forests, Madhya Pradesh.
Government regret that the request made in your application under reference cannot be acceded to. Your application has, therefore, been rejected." The application, dated September 12, 1956, is not included in the printed record but the plaintiff states that it is by this memorandum that the Government finally repudiated its obligations under the contract.
Thereupon the plaintiff filed the suit praying for a declaration that the rights granted to the plaintiff under the licence, dated January 21, 1951, had not been affected by the vesting of the estates in the State under the Act. In the alternative he prayed that he was entitled to specific performance and delivery of the contract which was completed on February 5, 1955. He further prayed that in case he was not entitled to these reliefs, Rs. 50,000 damages be awarded against the State. Three points have been raised before us:
(1) that the ’forest and trees did not vest in the State under the Act;
(2) that even if they vested, the standing timber having been sold to the plaintiff did not vest in the State under the Act;
(3) that a new contract was completed on February 5, 1955, and the plaintiff was entitled to specific performance of the contract.
The Act and the rights of persons holding contracts to cut and take away timber and fruits of the trees have been the subjectmatter of consideration by this Court on several occasions. But the learned counsel for the plaintiff contends that none of those cases cover the case of the plaintiff because, according to him, none of those cases dealt with standing timber. He says that the plaintiffs contract is a contract for the sale of goods and the property in the goods had vested in him and, therefore, it stands on a different basis from the contracts construed in the earlier cases. The learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, maintains that the plaintiffs case is covered by the earlier decisions and all the arguments which he has advanced have been rejected by this Court in those cases.
The relevant statutory provisions of the Act
are these:
"Section 3. Vesting of proprietary rights
in the State..--( 1 ) Save as otherwise
provided in this Act, on 385
and from a date to be specified by a
notification by the State Government in this
behalf, all proprietary rights in an estate,
mahal, alienated village or alienated land, as
the case may be, in the area specified in the
notification, vesting in a proprietor of such
estate, mahal, alienated village, alienated
land, or in a person having interest in such
proprietary right through the proprietor,
shall pass from such proprietor or such other
person to and vest in the State for the
purposes of the State free of all
encumbrances.
(2) After the issue of a notification
under sub-section (1), no right shall be
acquired in or over the land to which the said
notification relates, except by succession or
under a grant or contract in writing made or
entered into by or on behalf of the State; and
no fresh clearing for cultivation or for any
other purpose shall be made in such land
except in accordance with such rules as may be
made by the State Government in this behalf
Section 4. Consequences of the vesting.--(
1 ) When the notification under sec. 3 in
respect of any area has been published in the
Gazette, then, notwithstanding anything
contained in any contract, grant or document
or in any other law for the time being in
force and save as otherwise provided in this
Act, the consequences as hereinafter setforth
shall, from the beginning of the date
specified in such notification (hereinafter
referred to as the date of vesting) ensue,
namely :-
(a) all rights. title and interest vesting
in the proprietor or any person having
interest in such proprietary right through the
proprietor in such area including land’
(cultivable or barren), grass land, shrub
jungle, forest, trees, fisheries, wells,
tanks, ponds, water channels, ferries,
pathways, village sites, hats, bazars and
melas; and in all sub-soil, including rights,
if any, in mines and minerals, whether being
worked or not, shall cease and be vested in
the State for purposes of the State free. of
all encumbrances; and the mortgage debt or
charge on any proprietary right shall be a
charge on the amount of compensation payable
for such proprietary right to the proprietor
under the provisions of this Act ..........
Section 5. Certain properties to continue
in possession of proprietor or
other
person.---Subject to the provisions in
Sections 47 and 63--
(a) all open enclosures used for
agricultural or domestic purposes and in
continuous possession for twelve’ 386
years immediately before 1948-49; all open
house-sites purchased for consideration; all
buildings, places of worship; wells situated
in and trees standing on lands included in
such enclosures or house-sites or land
appertaining to such buildings or places of
ownership; within the limits of a village-site
belonging to or held by the outgoing
proprietor or any other person shall continue
to belong to or be held by such proprietor or
other person, as the case may be, and the land
thereof with the areas’ appurtenant thereto.
shall be settled with him by the State
Government on such terms and conditions as it
may determine;
(b) all private wells and buildings on
occupied land belonging to or held by the
outgoing proprietor or any other person shall
continue to belong to or be held by
such proprietor or other person;
(c) all trees standing on land comprised
in a homefarm or homestead and belonging to or
held by the outgoing proprietor or any other
person shall continue to belong to or held by
such proprietor or other person;
(d) all trees standing on occupied land
other than land comprised in home-farm or
homestead and belonging to or held by a person
other than the outgoing proprietor shall
continue to belong to or be held by such
person;
(e) all tanks situate on occupied land and
belonging to or held by the outgoing
proprietor or any other person shah continue
to belong to or held by such proprietor or
other person;
(f) all tanks, belonging to or held by
the outgoing proprietor which are situate on
land other than village site or occup ied land
and in which no person other than such
proprietor has any rights of irrigation, shall
belong. to or be held by such proprietor.
(g) all tanks and embankments (bandhans)
belonging to or held by the outgoing
proprietor or any other person which are
situate on land other than village site
occupied land and the beds of which are under
cultivation of such proprietor or such other
person shah "belong to or be held by such
proprietor or such other person and the land
under such tanks and embankments shall be
settled with such proprietor or such other
person on such terms and conditions as the
State Government may determine;
(h) all groves wherever situate and
recorded in -village papers in the name of the
outgoing proprietor or any other person shall
continue to belong to or be held 387
by such proprietor or such other person and
the land under such groves shall be settled
with such proprietor or such other person by
the State Government on such terms and
conditions as it may determine.
Section 6. Certain transfers to be
void. (1) Except as provided in sub-section
(2), the transfer of any right in the property
which is liable to vest in the State under
this Act made by the proprietor at any time
after the 16th March, 1950, shall, as from the
date. of vesting, be void." Let us now look at the decisions of thiS Court and see what has been laid down therein. In Chhotabhai jethabai Patel v. The State of Madhya Pradesh,(1) which we may mention has since been overruled, the contract was in respect of the right to pluck, collect and carry away tendu leaves, to cultivate, culture and acquire lac, and to cut and carry away teak and timber and other species of tree and bamboos. The Court observed:
"It is clear from the provisions in
the impugned Act that only those rights of the
proprietor vest in the State which the
proprietor had on the specified date .....
The scheme of the Act as can be gathered from
the proviSions referred to above makes it
reasonably clear that whatever was done before
16th March, 1950, by the proprietors by way of
transfer of rights is not to be disturbed or
affected, and that what vests in the State iS
what the proprietors had on the vesting date.
If the proprietor had any rights after the
date of vesting which he could enforce against
the transferee such as a lessee or a
licensee, those rights would no doubt vest in
the State. In all these petitions, the several
contracts and agreements were before the date
of vesting, and many of them were prior even
to the 16th March, 1950. The petitioners had
taken possession of the subject matter of the
contracts, namely, tendu leaves, lac
palsadies, teak, timber and hardwood,
bamboos and miscellaneous forest produce."
The Court construed the contracts in that case thus:
"The contracts and agreements appear to
be in
essence and effect licences granted to the
transferees to cut, gather and carry away the
produce in the shape of tendu leaves, or lac,
or timber, or wood." The Court further held that the rights of-the petitioners were not encumbrances within the meaning of the expression "free from encumbrances" in s. 3 ( 1 ) of the Act. The Court accordingly issued a writ prohibiting the State from interfering in any manner with (1) [1953] S.C.R. 476, 479, 481,483. 388 the enjoyment of those rights by the petitioner. It may be mentioned that in that case the Court was dealing with an application under Art. 32 of the Constitution.
Chhotabhai’s(1) case was distinguished in Ananda Behera v. The State of Orissa(2) which again dealt with a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution. In Anand Behara v. The State of Orissa(2) the subject-matter of licence was fishery rights and the Act which was construed was the Orissa Estates Abolition Act, 1951. The Court held that the right sought to be acquired by the petitioners by their several purchases was not in respect of any future goods as claimed by them but was a license to enter on the land coupled with a grant to catch and carry away the fish, in other words, a profit a prendre which is immovable property within the meaning of the Transfer of Property Act read with s. 3(25) of the General Clauses Act. The Court further held that as it was an oral licence it contravened s. 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, and therefore, no title or interest therein passed to the petitioners in that case. The Court distinguished Chhotabhai’s(1) case on the following grounds:
"It is necessary to advert to Firm
Chhotabhai jethabai Patel & Co. v. The State
of Madhya Pradesh(1) and explain it because it
was held there that a right to ’pluck, collect
and carry away’ tendu leaves does not give the
owner of the right any proprietary interest in
the land and so that sort of right was not an
’encumbrance’ within the meaning of the Madhya
Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights Act.
But the contract there was to ’pluck, collect
and carry away’ the leaves. The only kind of
leaves that can be ’plucked’ are those that
are growing on trees and it is evident that
there must be a fresh crop of leaves at
periodic intervals. That would make it a
growing crop and a growing crop is
expressly exempted from the definition of
’immovable property’ in the Transfer of
Property Act. That case is distinguishable
and does not apply here." In Mahadeo v. The State of Bombay,(a) which was again a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution, Chhotabhai’s(1) case was not followed. In flus case some of the proprietors had granted to the several petitioners rights to take forest produce, mainly tendu leaves, from the forests included in the Zamindaris belonging to the proprietors. The agreements conveyed to the petitioners in addition to the tendu leaves other forest produce like timber, bamboos, etc., the soil for making bricks, and the right to build on and occupy land for the purpose of their business. These rights (1) [1953] S.C.R. 476. (2) [1955] 2 S.C.R. 919. (3) [1959] Supp. 2 S.C.R. 339. 389 were spread over many years but in the case of a few the period during which the agreements were to operate expired in 1955. This Court held that the agreements required registration and pointed out that some aspects had not been brought to the notice of the Court in Chhotabhai’s(1) case. Hidayatullah, J., as he then was, speaking for the Court observed:
"But what was the nature of those rights, of
the petitioners ? It is plain, that if they
were merely contractual right then as
pointed out in the two later decisions, in
Ananda Behera v. The State of Orissa(2),
Shantabai’s case(a) the State has not acquired
or taken possession of those rights but has
only declined to be bound by the agreements to
which they were not a.party. If, on the other
hand, the petitioners were mere hcensees, then
also, as pointed out in the second of the two
cases cited, the licences came to an end on
the extinction of the title of the licensers.
In either case there was no question of the
breach of any fundamental rights of the
petitioners which could support the petitions
which were presented under Art. 32 of the
Constitution." The Court then construed the agreements in question and came co the conclusion that the agreements could not be said to be contracts of sale of goods simply. Then the Court examined the provisions of the Central Provinces I and Revenue Act and came to the following conclusion:
"From this, it is quite clear that
forests and trees belonged to the proprietors,
and they were items of proprietary rights.
The first of the two questions posed by us,
therefore, admits of none but an affirmative
answer.
If then the forest and the trees
belonged to the proprietors as items in their
’proprietary fights’, it is quite clear that
these items of proprietary rights have been
transferred to the petitioners. The answer to
the second question is also in the
’affirmative. Being a ’proprietary right’, it
vests in the State under ss. 3 and 4 of the
Act. The decision in Chhotabhai’s(1) treated
these rights as bare licences, and it was
apparently given per incuriam and cannot
therefore be followed."
It seems to us that this decision concludes the controversy before us. This decision was followed in State of Madhya Pradesh v.Yakinuddin(4) Various agreements were construed in that case; one agreement was to propagate lac, another agreement was to (1) [1953] S.C.R. 476. (2) [1955] 2 S.C R. 919. (3) [1959] S.C.R. 265. (4) [1963] 3 S.C.R. 13. 390 collect tendu leaves, and another agreement was with respect to a right to collect fruits and flowers of Mahua leaves. It was contended that these rights were saved in view of the provisions of the Act, but this contention was negatived. Sinha, C.J., speaking for the Court, observed that the distinction between a bare licence and a licence coupled with grant or profit a prendre was irrelevant because "whatever may have been the nature of the grant by the outgoing proprietors in favour of the respondents, those grants had no legal effect as against the State, except in so. far as the State may have recognised them. But the provisions of the Act leave no manner of doubt that the rights ’claimed by the respondents could not have been enforced against the State, if tiao latter was not prepared to respect those rights and the rights created by the transactions between the respondents and their grantors did not come within any of the saving clauses of s. 5." Earlier he had observed that "any person claiming some interest as a proprietor or as holding through a proprietor in respect of any proprietary interest in an estate has got to bring his interest within s. 5, because on the date of vesting of the estate, the Deputy Commissioner takes charge of all lands other than occupied lands and homestead, and of all interests vesting in the State under s. 3. Upon such taking over of possession, the State becomes liable to pay the compensation provided for in s. 8 and,the succeeding sections. The respondents have not been able to show that their interest comes under any of the clauses aforesaid of S. 5."
The last case in which this Act was construed was Mulamchand v. State of Madhya Pradesh(1). In that case Mulamchand had purchased a right to pluck, collect and remove forest produce like lac, tendu leaves, etc., from the proprietors of the different Malguzari jungles. This Court followed State of Madhya Pradesh v. Yakinuddin(2) and negatived the claim of Mulamchand to exercise his rights under the agreement.
In view of .these cases it is too late in the day to contend that the forest and the trees did not vest in the State under the Act.
There is no force in the contention of the learned counsel that under the contract the plaintiff had become owner of trees as goods. It is true that trees which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale are "goods" for the purposes of the Sale of Goods Act. But before they cease to be "proprietary" rights or interest in proprietary rights within the meaning of ss. 3 and 4(a) of the Act they must be felled under 1 the contract. It will be noticed that under cl. 1 of the contract (1) Civil Appeal No. 393 of 1965 dated February 20, 1968. (2) [1963] 3 S.C.R. 13. 391 the plaintiff was entitled to cut teak trees of more than 12 inches girth. It had to be ascertained which trees fell within that description. Till this was. ascertained, they were not "ascertained goods" within s. 19 of the Sale of Goods Act. Clause 5 of the contract contemplated that stumps of trees, after cutting, had to be 3 inches high. In other words, the contract was not to sell the whole of the trees. In these circumstances property in the cut timber would only pass to the plaintiff under the contract at the earliest when the trees are felled. But before that happened the trees had vested in the State.
This brings us.to the last point, namely, whether a new contract was concluded between the Government and the plaintiff. It is extremely doubtful whether the letter, dated February 1, 1955, is an offer. It seems to be an invitation to the plaintiff to make an offer. Be that as it may, even if it is treated as an offer there was no unconditional acceptance by the letter, dated February 5, 1955. The plaintiff expressly reserved his right to claim a refund of Rs. 17,000. .According to the letter of the Divisional Forest Officer, dated February 1, 1955, the plaintiff had to give up his claim to Rs, 17,000 which he had already paid and had to pay a further sum of Rs. 17,000. The High Court, in our opinion, rightly held that the alleged acceptance of the offer made on February 1, 1955, was conditional and qualified. In the result the appeal fails and is dismissed with costs. V.P.S. Appeal dismissed. 392